The organisation has urged all candidates to invest to end violence against children around the world, protect the UK international aid budget, and keep the Department for International Development (DFID) independent.

World Vision UK wants candidates to keep the UK as a country that not only focuses on its own needs, but is committed to helping vulnerable communities across the globe.

Gavin Crowden, head of policy, advocacy and campaigns for World Vision UK highlighted the plight children face around the world due to factors including conflicts and natural disasters.

He said as the number of children displaced rises; the world faces potentially catastrophic challenges.

“Violence affects more than a billion children around the world every year – that’s one in two children worldwide. About a quarter of the world’s children live in conflict- and crisis- affected countries, making them especially vulnerable to abuses like child marriage, dangerous labour and sexual exploitation,” he said.

“UK aid has saved countless lives in countries ill-equipped to protect citizens from humanitarian disasters. Significant progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty, yet there is still such a long way to go,” Crowden said.

“Britain should be proud of its commitment to this lifesaving work, and yet overseas aid – as often during times of political uncertainty – is under threat.”

World Vision UK stated that despite the “excellent reputation” of…

Rev Phillip Owen said the robbers got away with almost £55,000 of gems in May which he was going to give to his grandchildren.

“It was a big day but it was absolutely ruined,” Rev Owen said, referring to his birthday.

“My grandchildren came down and were traumatised with the mess that was here and the state their grandmother was in.

“The dog was badly beaten. It was terrible.”

Keiran Bunce, 19 and Marcus Thomas, 30, admitted the charges and got two years and eight months and four years and six months.

Leon Rowlands, 20, was found guilty after trial and given 18 months.

Keiran Jason Bunce (left) Leon Solskjaer Rowlands, and Marcus Lee Thomas

Rev Owen said the burglars took glass they had smashed from a window to get in the house; put it in meat they had got from his fridge and then fed it to his dog, Rusty.

The vicar also said the dog was beaten on the back of his legs and ribs and was left limping. Thankfully, a vet confirmed the dog didn’t ingest any of the glass and has now fully recovered from the attack.

Rev Owen, from Taibach, Neath Port Talbot, said the men had started raiding the house, but when they found a safe, they focused on that.

He said one piece of jewellery was 100 years old and most of them are extremely rare.  

“The stones were more valuable than the gold of the rings,” the vicar…

Speaking at the Promoting Digital Child Dignity conference in the Vatican, Francis admitted the “painful and tragic experience” of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church gave it a sense of “duty to approach these issues with a long-term vision”.

“There is a need to ensure that investors and managers remain accountable, so that the good of minors and society is not sacrificed to profit,” he said.

“For the sake of advancing the development of the internet and its many benefits, companies that provide services have long considered themselves mere suppliers of technological platforms, neither legally nor morally responsible for the way they are used.”

He continued: “It is now clear that they cannot consider themselves completely unaccountable vis-a-vis the services they provide for their customers.

“So I make an urgent appeal to them to assume their responsibility towards minors, their integrity and their future.”

The Pope said the balancing of free expression and privacy online is a “crucial aspect” of digital life and raised fears about increased use of encryption which would make “any control extremely difficult, if not impossible”.

“A fitting balance must be found between the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and the interests of society, so as to ensure that digital media are not used to perpetrate criminal activities against minors,” he warned.

Last…

The Labour Party has pointed to a series of controversial past tweets from Rev Richard Cameron, who posted that “homosexual behaviour is a sin” and “allowing children to change their gender is wicked”.

In September he tweeted: “Christ has the power to help and change anyone. Obviously many gays hate this because want to carry on in their perversion.”

He also shared a series of controversial views on Islam, describing terrorism as “a problem Islam needs to deal with”, a full face veil as “oppressive and unBritish” and the prophet Muhammad as “a violent man”.

Labour revealed the minister’s tweets after Rev Cameron, the minister at Scotstoun Parish Church, branded Jeremy Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser” on Wednesday.

As the Labour leader was entering the Heart of Scotstoun community centre in Glasgow, he stopped to tell reporters about a scarf he was wearing, which had been given to him by representatives of the Who Cares Scotland charity.

But he was interrupted by Rev Cameron who shouted: “I thought you’d be wearing your Islamic jihad scarf.”

He added: “Who’s going to be the first terrorist invited to the House of Commons when you’re prime minister?”

Footage of the encounter attracted much attention online.

Green MSP Ross Greer, a member of the Church of Scotland, tweeted: “Bigoted nonsense directed at Corbyn today doesn’t represent the @churchscotland. The bigoted…

Last week, an investigation by the Huffington Post claimed some pastors at SPAC Nation have been targeting vulnerable people and asking them to take out loans of up to £5,000 which are then invested in crypto-currency.

The report suggested those taking out loans were left in debt while the pastors were seen wearing expensive clothing and jewelry.

Responding to the accusations made by former members of the church, the Met Police, said: “We have received allegations that pertain to potential fraud and other possible offences that relate to Spac Nation.

“Officers are reviewing the allegations to identify if any criminal offences have potentially been committed.

“Once this review is complete, a decision will be made as to whether a criminal investigation is launched. We cannot comment any further at this time.”

SPAC Nation has persistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the report.

In a statement on Thursday, the management board once again defended itself. It said: “Anyone reading between the lines of most of these publications against SPAC Nation will see a clear attempt to discredit us in order to get a political party using us as a leverage to score cheap political points.

“We welcome all meaningful investigations into our operations as we have always done. This helps to show our discipline, focus and commitment to best practices whilst always looking out for…